Remembering the man who shot George Wallace

August 23, 2007

Word that Arthur H. Bremer likely will be freed from a Maryland prison in a few months brought a rush of memory to me Thursday - as one of the handful of reporters who saw him on the fateful day in May 1972 after he shot Democratic presidential candidate George C. Wallace on the Laurel Shopping Center parking lot.

I was working in the Baltimore Sun newsroom amid the commotion wrought by one of the rare events big enough to make Maryland the center of the media universe, but not involved in the immediate coverage of the story. When my shift ended in late evening, I found my way into the game wearing another hat – as a paid-by-the-story local stringer for the British news agency Reuters.

With Wallace, the segregationist Alabama governor, hospitalized in critical condition, federal authorities were coy about where Bremer was being held and when and where he would be hauled before a U.S. magistrate for an initial court appearance. The Sun’s federal court reporter had been assured it would be the next morning, perhaps in Hyattsville.

I joined a small media stakeout at the old federal courthouse, in Baltimore’s then-main post office on Calvert Street, where the hapless Bremer – bloodied and bruised from his pummeling in the crowd after shooting Wallace – arrived amid tight security for an unannounced and brief late-night appearance.

Few events in my 40 years at The Sun could rival the spotlight that Bremer’s crazed act brought to this area. I can remember the day in 1968 that Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon named Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew as his running mate (phones at the city desk, which I was answering, rang off the hook with the question, “Spiro Who?”), and the story’s other bookend in 1973 when Agnew unexpectedly turned up in that same Baltimore courthouse as Bremer to resign the vice presidency and pleaded no contest to tax evasion (and me, sitting back around the fifth row, about to earn a big raise from Reuters).

But Bremer was really my first big-time story, if only through a piece of the action. Wallace awoke from surgery paralyzed for life from a bullet in his spine, but for a day politically triumphant after winning Maryland’s Democratic presidential primary. He died in 1998.

Thirty-five years after the shooting, now recently retired from The Sun, I would love to chat up that unrepentant sad-sack loser Bremer – who has declined interview requests and done his best to avoid any spotlight. Many aspects of his life before the shooting have emerged, adding up to a portrait of a socially and sexually awkward outcast who stalked Nixon before turning his gun on Wallace.

Is he still crazy after all these years? Long denied parole, he remains an enigma.

But with credits for good behavior behind bars, he will soon walk among us again.

-DAVID ETTLIN, Temporary Assistant Business Editor

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Jackie Sauter | Filed Under Uncategorized 

Comments

Got something to say?





  • Law

  • Business

  • Archives

  • Visit Eye on Annapolis

    Check out our blog on the legislative session, Eye on Annapolis.

  • Categories

Business

The business staff of The Daily Record newspaper will contribute to this section. We'll write about topics ranging from the workplace to energy to the environment, but we'll strive to keep it as local as possible.

Eye on Annapolis

Visit our sister blog, Eye on Annapolis, produced by Reporter Andy Rosen. Or, follow Andy on Twitter: TDRAndy.

RSS Business posts

Law

The Daily Record’s been Maryland’s legal newspaper for 120 years or so. Now, we want to be Maryland’s legal blog, too. Click here to join the discussion and read posts by our legal team, including our Monday law blog round-up.

RSS Law posts

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

  • JessieX: Duh.
  • david halbritter: another halbritter served west virginia from wheeling unit so guess that makes me a yankee darnit ....
  • Gerald Conrad: While I cannot agree with the trial lawyers’ reasoning, I do agree the American Tort Reform...
  • Kathy: Closed on 50 Silo Point units ??? Check the SDAT tax records, only 1 unit has changed hands so far....
  • Anonymous: As both a lawyer and a client (since I’m in-house), $92,000 for a new attorney is ridiculous. I...

On Commenting

We ask that our readers follow a few guidelines, noted below.

Please do not post any personal attacks, profanity, spam or other advertisements — they will be removed. Also, please post using only one name or pseudonym, as this consistency helps establish a sense of community. We will delete posts if they are signed with different names but originate from the same IP or email address. And if you’re going to comment using a proper name, please make it your own. Deliberate misrepresentations will be removed.